Hi everyone, I'm new to the board as a member, mommy of 2 kitties, Crash and Presley (just lost my baby Burnie last month) but have been a visitor many times in the past looking for answers, and this site has been so wonderful in helping with education and answers for the health and care of my fur babies. I just wanted to introduce myself and say hi... and I thought I'd try asking some advice on my baby Crash (10 years old) who has had a tough go for the past couple of months. Last month we lost his littermate, Burnie, to abdominal cancer and kidney disease, and the week following that, Crash had a major allergic reaction to chicken and duck. I had all these different high quality foods left over from having been trying to get his brother to eat while he was sick, and Crash had been eating a little bit of Before Grain Tuna/Chicken and Blue Wilderness Duck mixed in with his usual Wellness Core. I was also giving him freeze dried chicken treats daily, as that is what his brother was the most prone to eat, and it was also Crash's favorite so how could I deny him when he saw his brother getting them?
So anyway... He had always been sensitive to his food, looking back on it now... and had occassional bouts of itchy eyes, itchy neck and even a rodent ulcer at one point, but it was minimal and would usually subside. This time, he had the most severe reaction, with swollen red, itchy eyes that would keep him up all night rubbing them, red inflamed itchy ears (just the outside and tips) and he would scratch his ears and cheeks until they were bloody messes. This happened in a 3 day time period, and he pretty much stopped eating, so I ran him into the vet.
She gave him a steroid shot and did a blood test, which incidentally came back "flawless" in her words. Within 24 hours, his symptoms of itchiness completely subsided and he started eating like crazy... i switched him over to Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Turkey, and he was doing so much better. 1.5 weeks later, and he was starting to scratch his ears again a bit and lick and chew his paws like crazy. I called the vet to see about trying a hypoallergenic diet... so ended up getting Royal Canin Rabbit and pea dry... as i wasn't sure if he would do the wet at all (he treats wet food as a treat, but grazes on dry all day). I gave him a little taste and he gobbled it up, so I mixed a bit in with his NV. He then just picked at his food for the rest of the day and night... but didn't have anymore allergy symptoms. The last couple of days, he had stopped eating almost entirely, but seemed very hungry, as he would come running when i called. i tried EVERYTHING!!! he would sniff it, lick it, then lick his lips and walk away. when i offered him every type of wet food or treat (without chicken of course) he would high-tail it so fast in the opposite direction. I took him into the vet yesterday and she said he checked out fine... and her advise was to give him fluids and an anti-nausea shot and see how he did. I got him home and he hungrily wolfed down a good portion of his NV (I didn't mix in the Royal Canin this time) and then I saw him eat twice more that day and night. This morning, I checked his food bowl and he hadn't touched it since last night and he was acting very sleepy, groggy and was hiding. When I went to pet him, it took him awhile to purr, but he did and he was drooling, so I'm thinking that it's got to be nausea again. I gave him half a tab of Pepcid 3 hours ago, and he still won't eat (i've offered him everything from raw to canned to dry to salmon treats to cod treats). He is sleeping on my windowsill right now... I did get him to play a little and he is looking more lively, but still not eating and not interested in food or water. I called my vet and am taking him in at 4:30pm today... thank GOD they are open 7 days a week!
Just wondering if anyone can offer any advice or anything to try? Any specific tests we should run... my vet probably will want to do an xray.
Thank you so much, Amanda
So anyway... He had always been sensitive to his food, looking back on it now... and had occassional bouts of itchy eyes, itchy neck and even a rodent ulcer at one point, but it was minimal and would usually subside. This time, he had the most severe reaction, with swollen red, itchy eyes that would keep him up all night rubbing them, red inflamed itchy ears (just the outside and tips) and he would scratch his ears and cheeks until they were bloody messes. This happened in a 3 day time period, and he pretty much stopped eating, so I ran him into the vet.
She gave him a steroid shot and did a blood test, which incidentally came back "flawless" in her words. Within 24 hours, his symptoms of itchiness completely subsided and he started eating like crazy... i switched him over to Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Turkey, and he was doing so much better. 1.5 weeks later, and he was starting to scratch his ears again a bit and lick and chew his paws like crazy. I called the vet to see about trying a hypoallergenic diet... so ended up getting Royal Canin Rabbit and pea dry... as i wasn't sure if he would do the wet at all (he treats wet food as a treat, but grazes on dry all day). I gave him a little taste and he gobbled it up, so I mixed a bit in with his NV. He then just picked at his food for the rest of the day and night... but didn't have anymore allergy symptoms. The last couple of days, he had stopped eating almost entirely, but seemed very hungry, as he would come running when i called. i tried EVERYTHING!!! he would sniff it, lick it, then lick his lips and walk away. when i offered him every type of wet food or treat (without chicken of course) he would high-tail it so fast in the opposite direction. I took him into the vet yesterday and she said he checked out fine... and her advise was to give him fluids and an anti-nausea shot and see how he did. I got him home and he hungrily wolfed down a good portion of his NV (I didn't mix in the Royal Canin this time) and then I saw him eat twice more that day and night. This morning, I checked his food bowl and he hadn't touched it since last night and he was acting very sleepy, groggy and was hiding. When I went to pet him, it took him awhile to purr, but he did and he was drooling, so I'm thinking that it's got to be nausea again. I gave him half a tab of Pepcid 3 hours ago, and he still won't eat (i've offered him everything from raw to canned to dry to salmon treats to cod treats). He is sleeping on my windowsill right now... I did get him to play a little and he is looking more lively, but still not eating and not interested in food or water. I called my vet and am taking him in at 4:30pm today... thank GOD they are open 7 days a week!
Just wondering if anyone can offer any advice or anything to try? Any specific tests we should run... my vet probably will want to do an xray.
Thank you so much, Amanda
He was so depressed about losing his brother and just started to get back to normal... and now I feel so helpless and at my wit's end that I can't fix this for him. I purchased some Stella and Chewy's and he won't go near it... and some Ziwipeak in both canned and dry.... but he's not interested either. i will wait to switch him when we get this figured out. one thing did just occur to me and that's that he has ALWAYS loved to drink water. Way more than my other cats... and the last few weeks he only wants our Spring Water (he got a taste from my cup that i left on the table), so i've been giving him that. I'm wondering if the extra minerals could be effecting him?
